New Districting Lines = New Progressives?

The results are in! Courage California partnered with Communities for a New California and Data for Social Good to poll more than 900 registered voters in newly drawn congressional districts 21 and 22 in the Central Valley. District 21 includes parts of Fresno and Tulare Counties, and District 22 includes parts of Kern, Kings, and Tulare Counties.

Overall, Central Valley voters identify more as Democrat (44% CD21, 43% CD22) and liberal (36% CD21, 42% CD22). This means these districts are key opportunities to flip in November!

We also learned that jobs and the economy are the two top priority issues for voters in both districts, and we will focus on those for the election.

You can read more about our polling in this SF Chronicle article covering Democratic outreach to Latino voters, and this guest column in SactoPolitico by Courage executive director Irene Kao and CNC director of strategic engagement Hatzune Aguilar on how Latinx voters will be key to flipping these districts.

We will expand our congressional polls to the Inland Empire and Orange County in August.

Our Winning Strategy For A Safer California

Media coverage of recent retail theft and some violent crimes was nearly constant for the first half of the year throughout the nation, and the influence of law enforcement and right-wing media over the public safety conversation in California resulted in the scapegoating of criminal justice reforms and elected reformers.

In an effort to reframe the public narrative around community safety, Courage convened more than a dozen local and statewide criminal justice reform organizations to develop a California Public Safety Communications Toolkit and coordinate a community-centered communications and media strategy that was both proactive and reactive.

For the primary election, we endorsed several reform candidates. We also produced messaging and graphics to support several partner campaigns, which were combating false criminal justice and community safety narratives, including the campaigns to re-elect Contra Costa DA Diana Becton and fight against the Prop H recall of San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin. We organized a shared post-primary press release with local partners on key criminal justice reform race results, including Attorney General, district attorneys, and sheriffs, which influenced broader media coverage of the races to be more balanced, especially further out from election day.

Courage -- It Looks Good on You!

Have you listened to our bi-monthly podcast Courage — It Looks Good On You! yet? In a series of conversations with leaders from across the state, our podcast aims to keep Californians informed about important issues like community safety, environmental justice, and, most recently, the future of abortion.

“The Future of Abortion Access” episode aired on June 25, one day after the SCOTUS decision. Nourbese Flint led a conversation with Onyemma Obiekea, Policy Analyst at Black Women for Wellness/Action Project, Shannon Olivieri Hovis, Director of NARAL Pro-Choice California, and Sierra Harris, Deputy Director of Network Strategies at National Network of Abortion Funds, about what the Supreme Court decision means for California, and how California’s fight to expand abortion rights and access can be a model for the nation.

Subscribe to our podcast on itunes and Spotify and share it with your friends and family!

Primary Results Are In!

Out of our Voter Guide’s total of 22 endorsed candidates, 15 won their races or advanced to the top-two general election. Half of them have fairly straightforward general election races in which they are expected to win, and half have tough races in which they will face considerable industry spending against them, especially from Big Oil.

Many of our endorsed district attorney candidates lost in a historic number of contested DA races in the state. However, Contra Costa County DA Diana Becton’s re-election was significant because she faced a conservative, law enforcement-aligned challenger from her own office and because she is the only Black DA in California. Congrats to DA Becton!

The biggest blow in the primary came with the recall of San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin, who lost his recall election 55% to 45%. A lot of factors went into this loss, and through our work with partners we were able to influence a more nuanced and balanced analysis of what his unseating means for the future of progressive District Attorneys nationwide. Here are some articles of interest:

Sacramento Bee: Progressive DA Chesa Boudin is out, which will solve none of San Francisco’s problems
NY Times: Democrats Need to Understand the Real Message San Francisco Sent
SF Chronicle: San Francisco voters got rid of Chesa Boudin — and may soon face a recall hangover

Voter Week of Action

In the weeks leading up to the June 7 primary elections, we organized a statewide week of action to educate voters about the importance of voting, culminating in the release of the Courage Voter Guide. Our small but mighty team published analysis of 110 races up and down the ballot. We also hosted a Primary Election Power Hour with partners from around the state to highlight key races and voter resources. Watch the conversation here.

Overall, over unique users accessed the voter guide – 47.4% of whom were younger voters aged 18 - 34 years old! We were excited to see so many voters used the voter guide as a trusted resource, and especially that half of them were from a traditionally under-engaged demographic.

Courage will release our general election voter guide by early October, when ballots go out for the November 8 elections, and running GOTV ads with the goal of increasing statewide voter turnout from a disappointing 33% in the June primary.

Reproductive Justice For All

The close of this quarter brought with it the unimaginable reversal of Roe v. Wade by the right-wing majority of the Supreme Court, ending abortion rights for millions across the country. Courage immediately released a statement calling on all Californians and reproductive justice advocates across the country to stand together for the rights of all Americans. Scottie Thomaston, Editor at Courage California Institute’s EqualityOnTrial.com, wrote a thoughtful blog piece on the issue entitled SCOTUS: How We Got Here and Where We Go.

We also compiled a list of resources for members to learn how they might directly support ACCESS Reproductive Justice, the only abortion fund in California, and take action by signing our joint petition calling on Google to delete location data that could be used to prosecute people seeking abortions, which Googlee committed to in early July.

Most importantly, we are encouraging our members to vote their values in November. Courage California supports Proposition 1 (SCA 10), a constitutional amendment to explicitly protect the fundamental constitutional right to abortion and contraception. Also, don’t forget to sign up for our general election voter guide so that you can see which federal, state, and local leaders and candidates support or oppose abortion.